Elizabeth Jeanne Duffey finally broke free of that which restrained her for far too many years. Despite being confined to a wheelchair for over ten years, she remained upbeat and was a constant source of inspiration to family and friends.

Born May 10, 1932, in Chicago, IL, to Charles & Marie Duffey, Betty Boop lived a life full of adventure and was likely in the middle of cooking up another even as she breathed her last.

Baby sister to Charles, Mary, and Peggy; partner to James Reed; mother of Joseph, William, Thomas, David, AnnMarie, John, and Mary; grandmother of Kevin, Matthew, Robert, Sarah, Ryan, Taylor, Daniel, Catie, Christian, Allison, Rachael, Caroline, Reilly, SaraBeth, Christopher, and Ashley; great-grandmother to Julia, Margot, Joseph, Henry, Jacob, Charles, Halle, Lucy, Olivia, and Andrew; friend and confidante to countless others during her 94 years on earth.

Betty graduated from DePaul University in the mid-1950s and returned to earn her master’s degree in the 1970s. Utilizing her accounting education, she taught various business accounting classes at Maine West High School in Des Plaines, IL, in addition to night school courses at Oakton Community College. She also maintained a thriving tax practice until 2020.

While she lived most of her life in Chicago and its suburbs, those of us in Oregon’s Willamette Valley were blessed with her presence as she called it home for the last five years.